“Are we terrorists” he asked. “Are you scared of us Why are these men standing around” Lakhani said Mumbai shareholders are “civilised” even if they criticise company boards! He said (respectable) business groups like the Tatas don’t employ “bouncers” at shareholder meetings and demanded all guards be withdrawn.

Humbled, chairman Navin Agarwal directed the guards to leave. Lakhani then lashed out at Dhir, whom he called the “blue-eyed boy” of (previous chairman) Sir Bill Gammell.

Dhir, he said, is “a billionaire” because of a Rs14cr ($2.8m) annual salary package and a “substantially large” stock option scheme where he paid Rs10 for each Cairn share, now trading at Rs331. “All this is partly at the cost of shareholders,” added Lakhani.

Why, he asked, was Dhir allowed to resign despite his re-appointment last August for five years Another shareholder, Vinayak Bapat, slammed Cairn’s poor treatment of minority shareholders. Bapat said shareholders would have to attend English classes to understand the opaque language of Cairn’s audit report.

He added that Cairn’s 122m barrels P1 reserves estimate for Rajasthan would last just another three years with production at 175,000 b/d. “Is the management aware of more reserves” he asked.

Bapat said shareholders are being denied dividends through “clever” accounting practices within the maze of overseas-based companies that make up the group. “If we are genuine about looking after minority shareholders’ interests,” he said, “there’s a long way to go.

Almost all shareholders who spoke demanded Dhir should be asked or compelled to stay on for at least another three years. Some said that by appointing P. Elango as interim MD, Cairn India revealed the lack of any succession plan. Unruffled, chairman Agarwal said Cairn is aiming to produce 300,000 b/d from the Rajasthan fields and that the company would at best take, “a token stake” in the proposed HPCL refinery in Rajasthan. “We are not interested in that business,” he said. Responding to another question, Agarwal said the the UK-based Vedanta group now owns 58.8%, Cairn Energy Plc, UK owns 18.2% while the public own 22.9% of Cairn India. Dhir advised caution over Cairn India’s Rajasthan P1 reserves number, dismissing it as, “a regulatory artefact”. He stressed the more important 2P number of 848m barrels in the last fiscal. He said after producing 64m barrels this year Cairn now has 2P reserves of 906m barrels. “This shows we have replaced 175% of what we produced,” he said. “We are not about to run out of reserves.” Dhir added that the Rajasthan fields hold 7.3bn barrels in-place oil, of which 1.7bn barrels are recoverable against last year’s number of 1.4bn barrels recoverable.

Almost all shareholders who spoke demanded Dhir should be asked or compelled to stay on for at least another three years. Some said that by appointing P. Elango as interim MD, Cairn India revealed the lack of any succession plan. Unruffled, chairman Agarwal said Cairn is aiming to produce 300,000 b/d from the Rajasthan fields and that the company would at best take, “a token stake” in the proposed HPCL refinery in Rajasthan. “We are not interested in that business,” he said. Responding to another question, Agarwal said the the UK-based Vedanta group now owns 58.8%, Cairn Energy Plc, UK owns 18.2% while the public own 22.9% of Cairn India. Dhir advised caution over Cairn India’s Rajasthan P1 reserves number, dismissing it as, “a regulatory artefact”. He stressed the more important 2P number of 848m barrels in the last fiscal. He said after producing 64m barrels this year Cairn now has 2P reserves of 906m barrels. “This shows we have replaced 175% of what we produced,” he said. “We are not about to run out of reserves.” Dhir added that the Rajasthan fields hold 7.3bn barrels in-place oil, of which 1.7bn barrels are recoverable against last year’s number of 1.4bn barrels recoverable.